May 2017

5/11/17 May Tarpon Fishing in Islamorada Florida Keys

Got out with Will and his father today we left early to try and get the sunrise bite.  Today the tarpon had moved around on us though, where I had found some early yesterday morning there was nothing much at all.  We fished a bit and caught a shark, never saw a fish roll.  I looked in some other channels close by, did see one tarpon roll, but that was about it.  After a little bit we ran and tried another area.  We found a few more fish here… not a ton but maybe a couple dozen, rolling very spread out.  We caught a bunch of sharks in the first area, then moved a bit further down and fished some more.  Not quite as many sharks, but no tarpon bites.  We even had a couple tarpon roll right in between our lines… frustrating!  After that I ran out and tried another area which had been a little slower as of late, but didn’t have much else to look at as I talked to a few other guides and nobody had seen much.  We hoped the tide would change once there and that fish would get happier.  We got there on slack tide, and saw a good handful of fish busting and jumping, so that was a good sign.  We waited out the tide and once it got running, the tarpon started to bite!  We caught a couple fish, not huge ones but nice 40 lbers.  Will hooked a couple after that but unfortunately missed both bites, the second one of course was right when he was getting a drink and put the rod in the rod holder… that’s when they always get ya!  Not that you can’t hook a fish from the rod holder, but it definitely cuts down on the hookup percentages.  Anyways it was a fun day and glad we got on the tarpon eventually.  I’m out of town for the weekend for a wedding, will be back fishing on Monday.  I have the same client for all 5 days next week, tarpon is on the menu so hopefully they’ll be cooperative!  2 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5/10/17 May Tarpon Fishing Islamorada Full Day

Got back on the full day routine today and we had a much better day.  We found tarpon right off the bat and caught one and lost one in the first 30 minutes of the day.  Plenty of shark activity too.  After the tide died we ran out in search of more tarpon off the mainland but didn’t see a whole lot.  A few jumpers off in the distance, tried to track them down, but never had any bites aside from a few more sharks.  We hit another area on the way in from there and it just looked so pretty… Nice incoming tide with green water.  We saw a school of permit float by but couldn’t get them to bite!  Then we hooked double header tarpon which was chaos for a bit, but we landed both fish thankfully.  Then had a few cobias swim up to the boat too but they were spooked by my trolling motor before we could get a rod in our hands.  Then we caught another tarpon and a few more sharks!  Great day compared to the last couple, but nowadays I really like having the full days as you get to fish different areas, different tides, etc…  From here on out I recommend a 3/4 or full day for anyone looking for tarpon through the summer.  4 for 5

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5/9/17 Half Day Tarpon Fishing Florida Keys in May

Tough day for us again today.  Worked hard at it yesterday I spent 2 hours catching mullet which have been very difficult to get, but was able to catch about 70 or so though I had to split half of them with my bait catching partner.  I ran out into the backcountry for our half day which I normally don’t do but since the fishing was so slow locally I figured we’d have a better shot.  Didn’t see a whole lot for tarpon out there even though it was slick calm, the fish must’ve gotten pushed out with that cold front last weekend and just haven’t come back in yet… possibly due to the full moon I don’t know?  Anyways we saw a couple roll in the first hour and a half, that was it.  Tried moving around a bit.  We did catch several blacktip sharks which kept it interesting and got a nice hammerhead too.  When the tide turned and came in I stayed an extra 30 minutes, and a few tarpon did float by I could see and marked on my machine.  Though we didn’t get any bites but we did get a lemon shark and a sawfish!  So at least we had action and a variety of sea creatures, beats sitting around locally and possibly not catching anything.  Next couple days are full days so I’ll have time to fish some different areas on different tides and hopefully we’ll stumble into a few hungry tarpon.  I’m out of town Friday for a few days but will be back next Monday fishing a customer for 5 days straight for tarpon.  So hopefully it picks back up!  0 for 0

Capt. Rick Stanczyk